Student paradise ready for new academic year

The new building will be inaugurated at Aarhus University, School of Business and Social Sciences after the summer holidays. With up to 600 study spaces, a large canteen and a concert hall, the student-dedicated building will be setting new standards for state-of-the-art, hi-tech architecture at Aarhus University.

2012.05.31 | Jesper Toft Madsen

The façade of the hi-tech building boasts an integrated LED display emitting light through the yellow bricks at nightfall. Photo: Julia Rolsted Stacey, AU Communications.

When old and new students at Aarhus University, School of Business and Social Sciences embark on the new academic year in September, those studying at Fuglesangs Allé will be welcomed by a new, top-modern building. The ambitious project is dedicated to the students to offer them the most inspiring study settings.

The five-storey, 11,000 sq m building houses 500-600 study spaces, meeting and study group rooms, offices, modern classrooms and relaxing lounge environments. Two multi-purpose rooms also offer another large number of study spaces for students who prefer more social surroundings for their studies.

The sky's the limit The fulcrum of the building will be an open multi-purpose area stretching the length of the building like a pedestrian street. Here, with up to 3x400 servings a day, the canteen will cater for the campus people, and the area will also serve as a conference, lecture and concert venue with a seating capacity of 1,000.

The top-storey classrooms and study spaces offer a view of Aarhus landmarks such as the port, the City Hall and the rainbow above the AroS art museum. On the storey just below, new and inviting surroundings enable the student organisations to serve the students even better.

A few steps further down the wide central stairway, you can spot your friends in the canteen from the balcony. From here, a large screen can project live-streamed presentations from abroad or show close-ups of the artists on stage.

The multi-purpose room offers access to the terrace where the students can hang out and enjoy refreshments from the canteen. Visualisation: Cubo Arkitekter A/S

In the classrooms, the old blackboards and whiteboards have been replaced by smart boards which can be operated by the touch of your fingers.

The two basement levels can accommodate 130 cars and hundreds of bicycles and also offer electric car charging stations. This is also where students and staff can shower and change in two large changing rooms.

Designed by the firm of architects Cubo, the building is in strict compliance with architect C.F. Møller's Bauhaus style.

The inauguration of Building S will be celebrated with a huge student party on 31 August 2012. The student organisations which will be residing in the building have joined forces to organise the party and the programme (still to be decided).

FACTSDid you know that ...

... the façade facing Vestre Ringgade will boast an integrated LED display which will light up at nightfall and transmit various message through the coloured bricks?

... a 12x5-metre stage can be raised or lowered depending on the size of the event, thus giving the audience an optimal experience?

... the characteristic bricks were supplied ready-mixed by three different brickyards to ensure a uniform play of colours for the entire Building S, which, incidentally, resembles the expression of the oldest neighbouring buildings, which have coal burnt bricks as opposed to the gas burnt bricks used in the most recently constructed buildings before Building S.

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